Matthews, Kerr power MI

Hayley Matthews smashed a 46-ball 68, while Amelia Kerr registered her best figures of 5/38 as Mumbai Indians stormed to a six-wicket win over UP Warriorz in the Women’s Premier League.

The former champions chased down 151 in just 18.3 overs, boosting their net run-rate and jumping to second in the table with eight points, two behind leaders Delhi Capitals with a game in hand. This was Warriorz’s third consecutive defeat, leaving them on the brink of elimination.

Chasing a modest target at a dew-laden Ekana Stadium ground, MI lost Kerr (10) early but Matthews took charge, hammering a 35-ball fifty in a match-winning 92-run stand with Nat Sciver-Brunt (37 from 23 balls), the partnership coming off just 58 balls. She played fluently off the back foot, especially through the off-side, and reached her second half-century of the season against UPW with a crisp boundary between point and cover-point.

Earlier, opting to bowl, MI turned the game on its head with the New Zealand leg-spinner Kerr becoming the sixth player in WPL history to bag a five-wicket haul.

Brief scores: UP Warriorz: 150/9 (Voll 55, Harris 28, Deepti 27; Kerr 5/38, Matthews 2/25); Mumbai Indians: 153/4 (Matthews 68, Sciver-Brunt 37; Harris 2/11).